Ladies....

Mrs Eye said she'd like to get a bike to join me on rides. She's not really been off road so I'm thinking a FS for comfort and confidence.

Ideally after nothing too shabby that will rattle to bits on a trail. We've Got about the price of a Pashley Lady Sov to spend, so it won't be top end either. I'm thinking 2nd hand to get something cheaper but better quality.

As above I'd recommend a HT too, for the inital bike before jumping in too far too soon...I got my better half a Spesh Myka 2nd hand from off here, and she likes it a lot. Though she needed the shorter TT that most "designed for women" bikes provide, as "men's" 17" frame were too long for her to be comfortable (we tried).

You can buy the top model new for the money your talking about, or try to grab a 2nd hand bargain and put better forks on it.

I'd certainly second a good HT. Out of all the women I've coached (and men for that matter) the split between FS and HT is around 50%. Never once have I thought that someone on a HT was being held back by it, poor componant choice, size or set up, yes but never the actual bike.

To answer your question, Mrs S8tan rides an Inbred and a Sanderson soloist but not at the same time.

We're not selling, She really wanted one as well so I took the price of a new one as a benchmark. They're about £650 new.

bugger.

to answer the OP, mrs alfa started off with a crappy dawes watogo (which was built from a donated frame and spares bin bits - she didn't get on with it because the brakes never worked very well (some pretty nasty v's).
Next stop was an Orange evo2, which she hated because the ride was so harsh.
First real success was when she got a Santa Cruz Superlight, which she still rides and loves and really opened her eyes to mountain biking as an enjoyable endeavour.
Then later came her Spesh Pitch, but that is further down the line and I wouldn't suggest it as a first bike.

I stared of with a really small hardrock and soon bought a cove hustler 2nd hand. Lovely bike and I've been riding it since 2007. Now considering changing to a 5 as that will also take 160 forks for our alps trip....not sure though, love the hustler. I have a 15.5" and am 5'4"tall (or "short"as they used to say in holland).

I have ridden a orange 5 ladies, but that was just too small (I tried the long top tube version). The saddle was waaay up there.....

I have now just built 2 small ht's for both my kids and they did not cost that much. Nice light frame, air forks, short stem.... You could probably build a FS easily within budget buying of here.

Another vote for a HT and I'd definitely try the secondhand market if you can try a few for size as you'll get much better forks and wheels for the money and keeping them light is pretty key for us fairer sex, imo.

I've gone from steel HT to Ti to Orange Five back to alu HT and although the Five was probably the most grin inducing the alu HT is almost as good and much more bang for your buck! I used to think steel/ti was more comfortable/zingy than alu, but now having owned a couple of each I think it depends on the particular bike and a good alu feels just as good and is often a lot lighter - and that's something I really notice! (Would def recommend Kinesis if you go the female specific route - the frame's are awesome for the money!)

my misus uses an old giant xtc hardtail made up as 1x9 with 2nd hand bits, it looks pretty good and its actualy a decent weight as its got carbon rigid forks as well.. dont d loads of miles so the comfort factor isnt as important really
we just pootle around bridleways/lanes and stuff nothing major as mtb isnt really her thing

my first bike was the spesh myka hardtail... great bike for a beginner...later down the line i got leisurelakes bikes to put some beefier forks on it (rockshoks recon race... my bike is only a 13 inch frame cos im a tiny person (lol)...... since then i upgraded quite a few parts on it.... at the mo theres a prob with the forks as they bottom out too much ? only 80mmm travel...duno wether its me being used to my 2nd bike having 140mm travel forks...lol i ride orange five bike mnostly these days ...oh and my spesh roadie bike too (quite a new addition to my set of bikes....lol

muddydwarf - Member
MsD has a Spesh Myka FSR that she got from LL in the sales for £650. It's actually a nice bike to ride although the fork is too harsh for her, so we're going to swap it for an air-sprung

GF has a small Giant Reign, second hand, with a shorter rear shock, so 5 inches at the back matches 120 mm Fox float at the front. Nice and low, slack and sturdy so has survived the mid ride strops and crashes.